It is not transmitted to humans, and the mortality rate in sick horses ranges from 1 to 20%. Equine influenza is one of the most important viral diseases that affect the respiratory system of the Equine family, as the pathogen is the virus from the family of Orthomyxoviridae, type A.
There are two types of “A” virus, the first of which is known as (H7 N7), it was isolated for the first time in the world in 1956, but it has not been present in the epidemiological map of the world for more than forty years, while the second type (H3N8) was isolated for the first time in the world. 1963, when it’s still on the epidemiological map.
The second type “H3N8” was recorded in dogs in the United States of America and England, which confirms the ability of the virus to cross the type barrier, and although the virus has not been transmitted to humans, antibodies have been detected in the blood of those in contact with horses infected with the disease, and antibodies to human influenza have also been detected in Horse blood.
The prevalence of the disease ranges between “60 to 90%”, in unvaccinated horses, while the mortality rate in sick horses ranges between “1 to 20%”. The danger of the disease lies in the young foals, because they are exposed to a bacterial infection after being infected with the virus, causing pneumonia, which leads to their life within 48 hours. As for the rest of the infected horses, they recover within “15 to 21 days”, but after they stop work or race training, provided they do not Exposure to agents that reduce their immunity, which requires intensive treatment that costs a lot of drugs, or activation of alternative horses to do the work.
Tips for horse groomers
It is worth noting that there are a number of advice for horse breeders in the event of the disease outbreak, including preventive precautions that come among the most important: isolating sick horses from healthy ones, disinfecting cars used to transport horses periodically, ensuring that sick horses are not transported from one country to another, and applying quarantine measures For a month, the application of preventive precautions for workers in the horse stables, the application of safety and biosafety measures.
Vaccination is the second precaution that must be followed, as racehorses must be vaccinated well before entry, with the inhibited and dried horse influenza vaccine Servak, and the horses are injected with two doses between them with an interval of one month, then after 6 months and repeat the vaccination annually.
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